As he paddles through the surf on his board in the early hours of an August morning, Scott Anderson ’86 seems genuinely at peace—quiet, but grinning, as the waves roll past. In our small group of former and current Brown wrestling team members, he is the last to paddle back to the beach, reluctant to leave. Anderson learned to surf as a child and pursues the sport religiously. And winning an Oscar in 1996 for the digital effects on Babe has given Anderson the flexibility to pursue his passions.

Along the way, Anderson also worked on lower-budget independent films, including A Midsummer Night’s Rave and Iron Jawed Angels, and he even wrote, produced, and directed the short film Cinema/Vérité, which has been described as “a love story in the twilight zone.” Splitting his time between major studios and independent cinema was a choice that Anderson made because, he says, he “started thinking about why, how I entered this business, and how to get back to that.”

Anderson attributes his need to go beyond Hollywood special effects to his time at Brown. “Not that I don’t still love blowing stuff up,” he explains. “That is still fun, but I also studied semiotics at Brown. I still have those interests, and, unsurprisingly, Marxist-feminist film theory doesn’t really play a part in blockbusters.” While working on Cinema/Vérité, he realized that using digital technology on a low-budget film is a challenge, even for him. As a result, in 2006 he created his own company, Digital Sandbox, to make cutting-edge digital technology available to both big studios and independent filmmakers.

Digital Sandbox has provided Anderson with the tools to pursue projects that interest him. So, while Anderson’s company has provided support for Bryan Singer on Superman Returns and Steven Spielberg on The Adventures of Tintin, it has also worked on such small budget films as the surfing epic Chasing Mavericks; Won’t Back Down, a story of two women who try to save a failing school; and, most recently, Muhammad: The Messenger of God, a movie released last summer by Iranian filmmaker Majid Majidi that tells the story of the seventh-century city of Mecca during the time of Muhammad.

This is why Anderson still loves working in film: “Every project, every day is different,” he says. “The puzzles and the work you do changes based on the filmmaker and the goal of the film, and no film is a guaranteed success. For one film you’re figuring out how to simulate the big wave, for the next you’re reading a new religious text for context and watching the city of Mecca spring up from the ground in South Africa, and before you know it you’ve discovered and fallen for things you never even considered twenty years ago.”

Great article. Even with all of his success, Scott is such an approachable and easy going guy. Nice hearing some of his backstory here. I need to make it down to so-cal to surf with him!

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12/04/15

Scott: As my fellow classmate who has followed your professional passion, experienced the good fortune of "being accomplished," and remain humble and approachable, I applaud you and am "super proud" of you. Keep up the excellence in continuing to be "To thine own self be true." (William Shakespeare).

Thoroughly enjoyed our last conversation (too long ago) @ our 10th Class Reunion. Hope that you'll be making it back to our beloved alma mater for our 30th (Memorial Day Wkend 2016).

'Til we next connect & always, PEACE & BLESSINGS!!!

"EVER TRUE" :-)

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12/11/15

Hi Scott. I wonder if you ever cross paths with Pete Zuccarini. I think he was in your class and you share some common ground. He is a world class underwater cinematographer.

Congratulations on your successes. I am always amazed by how many talented people have gone from Semiotics and MCM into major media. And I am happy to learn that you are another person who is thriving in this demanding field.

Leslie

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